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Politics and the Structural Dependence of the State in Democratic Capitalist Nations

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  • Swank, Duane

Abstract

I explore empirically a central claim of the structural dependence thesis, namely, that capitalists' ability to disinvest fundamentally conditions policy choices in democratic capitalist systems. Utilizing time-series data for 16 affluent democracies from 1965 to 1984, I find that, indeed, low rates of business investment are associated with reductions in corporate tax burdens and that these reductions are more pronounced in periods of economic crisis. Moreover, low rates of capital formation engender cuts in personal income taxes during periods of economic stress. However, I also find that the magnitude of responsiveness of taxation to low rates of investment is relatively small and that analyses of the political context of investment and taxation indicate that governments have choices. The responsiveness of corporate tax burdens to capital formation may, under some governments, be part of a policy mix designed to maintain adequate investment and to address the demands of core constituencies.

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  • Swank, Duane, 1992. "Politics and the Structural Dependence of the State in Democratic Capitalist Nations," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(1), pages 38-54, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:86:y:1992:i:01:p:38-54_08
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    Cited by:

    1. Paster, Thomas, 2015. "Bringing power back in: A review of the literature on the role of business in welfare state politics," MPIfG Discussion Paper 15/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Falguni Pattanaik & Narayan Chandra Nayak, 2013. "Economic Freedom and Employment in India," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 2(1), pages 59-79, June.
    3. George Marian Ștefan & Vlad Nerău & Daniela Livia Traşcă & Daniela Nicoleta Sahlian & Liviu Matac, 2019. "“Social Trilemma”: Empirical Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Carlo V. FIORIO & Simon MOHUN & Roberto VENEZIANI, 2013. "Social Democracy and Distributive Conflict in the UK, 1950-2010," Departmental Working Papers 2013-09, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano, revised 16 May 2013.
    5. Culpepper Pepper D., 2015. "Structural power and political science in the post-crisis era," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 391-409, October.
    6. Laura Guercio, 2023. "Is the Banking and Financial System Changing the Social and Political Global Dimension?," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 11(4), pages 79-94, July.
    7. James Wood & Engelbert Stockhammer, 2020. "House prices, private debt and the macroeconomics of comparative political economy," Working Papers PKWP2005, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    8. Patrick Bernhagen & Thomas Bräuninger, 2005. "Structural Power and Public Policy: A Signaling Model of Business Lobbying in Democratic Capitalism," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 53(1), pages 43-64, March.
    9. Young Kevin, 2015. "Not by structure alone: power, prominence, and agency in American finance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 443-472, October.
    10. William Roberts Clark & Matt Golder & Sona Nadenichek Golder, 2002. "Fiscal Policy and the Democratic Process in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 3(2), pages 205-230, June.

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